- Date
- November 17, 1988, 16:25 local (21:25 UTC)
- Place
- Delphi, IN
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N3RJPitts S-15
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 25, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19881117050989A
- Case key
- 14228
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Failure to recover from an aerobatic maneuver due to lack of total experience, and lack of recent experience in the type of flight regime.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
Witnesses observed the acft performing a series of hammerhead type climbs and dives. The acft then was observed to perform a climb and enter a spin from which there was no recovery. The pilot had received 10 hours instruction in the acft over two years prior to accident and had logged 27 hours flight time in the acft. The pilot had not flown in 27 months at the time of the accident. His last flight in the accident acft was 28 months prior to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3RJ
- Reported as
- Pitts S-15
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 378H
- Airframe hours
- 250
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1A, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Christopher R. Seng
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 12, 1988 · 1 hours before
- Departed
- 3AR · Lafayette, IN
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 22
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Expired
- Seat
- Center
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 447 total · 27 in this make and model · 338 as pilot in command · 1 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LAF, 17 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.